Inserting thin cards into slots or sockets is common in many industries. In the electronics industry, for example, a removable circuit board is commonly electrically connected to various other electronic components, such as a computer motherboard, through a socket mounted on the motherboard. One common type of circuit board is a memory module, such as a Double Date Rate—Dual In-line Memory Module, or DDR DIMM, wherein one or more integrated circuits (ICs) are mounted on a thin, insulative card (e.g, having a thickness on the order of 2 mm), wherein the ICs are electrically connected to a plurality of contacts situated along a contact portion of the card. The plurality of contacts of the memory module may be electrically connected to the motherboard via an insertion of the memory module into a DIMM socket associated with the motherboard. In a conventional application, the memory module comprises a notch in the insulative card, wherein a locking mechanism associated with the motherboard is operable to engage the notch and generally lock the memory module into the DIMM socket upon a full insertion of the memory module into the socket. Such a locking of the memory module into the DIMM socket typically assures a reliable electrical contact between the DIMM socket and the plurality of contacts associated with the memory module.
Typically, a substantially large insertion force is necessary to press a memory module into the DIMM socket, thus generally assuring that the memory module is properly seated in the socket, and/or that the locking mechanism engages the notch in the card. In order to avoid damage to and/or contact with various ICs mounted on sides of the memory module, the insertion force is typically applied along an edge of the card that is generally opposite the contact portion of the card. Depending on various factors, the insertion force can be quite substantial, wherein the insertion force may lead to a bending or flexure of the thin insulative card during insertion. Flexure of the card can be deleterious to various electrical interconnections associated with the memory module, such as ball grid array (BGA) bonds between the ICs and the card. The flexure caused by the insertion force, for example, can lead to breakage or weakening of the bonds between the ICs and the card, thus leading to potential failure of the card and/or other components connected thereto.
Furthermore, since the thickness of the card is quite thin, the insertion force can lead to physical pain and/or fatigue for a person handling and inserting the memory module into a socket. Such pain and/or fatigue can be greatly increased for an assembly person assembling motherboards on a production line, wherein the assembly person may insert hundreds of memory modules into motherboards throughout their work shift.
Accordingly, there is a need for an insertion device for handling and inserting circuit boards, such as memory modules, into sockets, wherein damage to the circuit boards and/or physical pain to a handler of the circuit board is substantially reduced.